This collection examines LEGO from an array of critical and cultural studies approaches, foregrounding the world-renowned brand's ideological power and influence. Given LEGO’s status as the world’s largest toy manufacturer and a transnational multimedia conglomerate, Cultural Studies of Lego: More Than Just Bricks considers LEGO media's cultural messages; creativity with and within LEGO artifacts; and diversity within the franchise, including gender and race representation. The chapters’ in-depth analyses of topics including LEGO films, marketing tactics, play sets, novelizations, and fans offer compelling insights relevant to those interested in the LEGO brand and broader trends in the children’s popular culture market alike.
Author(s): Rebecca Hains, Sharon Mazzarella
Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan
Year: 2019
Language: English
Pages: 360
Tags: Popular Science In Cultural And Media Studies, LEGO
Front Matter ....Pages i-xix
“Let There Be LEGO!”: An Introduction to Cultural Studies of LEGO (Sharon R. Mazzarella, Rebecca C. Hains)....Pages 1-20
Front Matter ....Pages 21-21
In a “Justice” League of Their Own: Transmedia Storytelling and Paratextual Reinvention in LEGO’s DC Super Heroes (Lincoln Geraghty)....Pages 23-46
“Hey, Kids. Who Wants a Shot from the Merch Gun?!”: LEGO Batman as a Gateway Commodity Intertext (Matthew P. McAllister, Jared LaGroue)....Pages 47-71
Everything Is Awesome When You’re Part of a List: The Flattening of Distinction in Post-Ironic LEGO Media (Ari Mattes)....Pages 73-95
Made Up Prophecies: Metamodern Play with Religion, Spirituality and Monomyth in the LEGO Universe (Sissel Undheim)....Pages 97-121
The Accursed Second Part: Small-Scale Discourses of Gender and Race in The LEGO Movie 2 (Matthias Zick Varul)....Pages 123-145
Front Matter ....Pages 147-147
Master Building and Creative Vision in The LEGO Movie (Jonathan Rey Lee)....Pages 149-173
Toyetics and Novelizations: Bringing The LEGO Movie to the Page (Joyce Goggin)....Pages 175-196
LEGO Porn: Phallic Pleasure and Knowledge (Shannon Brownlee)....Pages 197-219
“It’s All About the Brick”: Mobilizing Adult Fans of LEGO (Nancy A. Jennings)....Pages 221-243
Front Matter ....Pages 245-245
“I Just Don’t Really, Like, Connect to It”: How Girls Negotiate LEGO’s Gender-Marketed Toys (Rebecca C. Hains, Jennifer W. Shewmaker)....Pages 247-269
Mia Had a Little Lamb: Gender and Species Stereotypes in LEGO Sets (Debra Merskin)....Pages 271-295
The Man Behind the Mask: Camp and Queer Masculinity in LEGO Batman (Kyra Hunting)....Pages 297-319
A License to Diversify: Media Franchising and the Transformation of the “Universal” LEGO Minifigure (Derek Johnson)....Pages 321-344
Back Matter ....Pages 345-357
